Schools Records Highlight Women's Swimming and Diving's Trips to Texas and Georgia

The Harvard women’s swimming and diving team traveled to Invitationals in Texas and Georgia to take on a slew of new opponents, crushing multiple school records in the process.

The swimmers competed in the Texas Invitational, where the 400 freestyle relay team made history, setting a new school record. The squad, composed of freshmen Mikaela Dahlke and Jerrica Li, junior Gabby Sims, and senior co-captain Daniela Johnson. Their time of 3:19.37 shattered the previous record from 2011.

The quad’s performance was good for seventh in a field of new competitors, including USC, Arizona, UCLA, and Wisconsin. Harvard entered two more squads into the same event, who placed 12th and 14th respectively.

“Although we won't be competing against any of these teams at the end of our season, we wanted to approach it in the same way that we would any other meet because ultimately any racing experience will help us when we finish our season,” sophomore Brittany Usinger said.

This experience certainly set rookie Dahlke up for success, as the rookie added her own individual record to the books. The freshman placed her own Harvard record in the 100 fly B-finals, also earning an NCAA “B” cut time with a 53.67 second finish.

The California native also had the highest Crimson finish in the 100 and 200 free. In the 100 B final, she touched the wall first in 49.19 seconds—a time better than finishers in the A final, and good enough for an NCAA “B” cut time. Her 200 time of 1:48.11 was good for 16th overall.

Another strong performance in the 100 fly came from Sims, who came in 14th overall, with a time of 50.94.

Sims also participated in the 200 Medley relay, where she, along Dahlke, junior Kristina Li, and sophomore Meagan Popp took seventh with a time of 1:41.36. Harvard entered four teams total in the relay, with the B, C, and D teams coming in 10th, 13th and 18th respectively.

Usinger stepped in for Sims in the 400 Medley relay, swimming to a 12th place finish alongside Li, Popp and Dahlke. She attributes the success of the team to its cohesion and passion for the sport.

“We choose to come to practice every day and do our best, and it is not something that is forced upon us, so we are constantly inspiring each other to strive to be better and reach our fullest potential as a team,” Usinger said.

Both Usinger and Li qualified for “B” cut times in individual events as well. The sophomore led the Crimson’s butterfliers in the 100 fly C-finals, finishing 17th with a time of 53.80. Li made waves in the 100 back, earning 14th in 54.29 seconds.

Although narrowly missing “B” cuts, Popp shone in her individual events as well. The sophomore took 14th in the 200 IM, touching the wall in 2:01.63. She also won the C final of the 100 breast, with Harvard’s highest placing time of 1:02.86, earning her the 17th place slot.

Meanwhile, junior Reagan Kology held down the long-distance contingent, earning Harvard’s highest finish in the 1650 free, placing 14th, directly ahead of teammate senior Willa Wang. The two again faced off in the 500 free, this time with Wang finishing in 21st, two spots ahead of Kology.

“We choose to lead from within and everyone is always there to support each other,” Usinger said. “Together we endure the challenges that come with the sport, and this has allowed us to become very close.”

New heights were also being reached in Athens, Georgia, where the Crimson divers competed in the 1 meter, 3 meter, and platform competitions.

“It can be really tough keeping our energy up for invitationals since they are two to three days long, but it is helpful to look at each day as a fresh start,” sophomore Mikaela Thompson said. “We have such a supportive team and cheer each other on so much that if you’re a little low in energy one of your teammates is there to pick you up.”

Junior Jing Leung—the team’s only competitor in the platform competition—took home fourth place with a score of 236.75. Leung, an NCAA first team all American, placed highest of any Harvard diver in any event, only falling behind two divers from UCLA and one from Michigan.

The junior found success on the springboards as well, placing ninth in the 3 meter finals, ahead of fellow junior Hannah Allchurch.

The meet proved tumultuous for Thompson, who saw her scores slip from 299.80 in the prelims—good for a bronze—to 257.90 in the 3 meter finals. Thompson ultimately finished 13th in the event. Again, the sophomore went into the 1 meter finals having taken third in the preliminaries, only to end the day with 11th overall. Even so, her performances proved top-notch among her teammates.

“Knowing that your team is behind you 100% regardless of whether you put in your best dives or fall a little short of what you might have hoped is really important when you’re competing for a team,” Thompson said.

–Staff writer Isabel DeLaura can be reached at idelaura@college.harvard.edu.